A diverse cross-section of the Montclair State University
community met together at a symposium in Memorial Auditorium on October 12 to
reflect upon the events of September 11, 2001, and to discuss how America has
changed since then. Titled “Imagination in the Post-9/11 World: How Have We
Changed?” the symposium was organized by the Creative
Research Center in observance of the tenth anniversary of the events of
that day.

Featuring a discussion by an interdisciplinary panel of
Montclair State faculty and staff, a multi-media presentation, an
audience-participation question and answer session, and a dance performance by
student dance majors, the symposium served as a chance for participants to
remember the day and share their thoughts about how America has changed as a
result.

College of the Arts Dean Geoffrey Newman opened the
symposium with words of welcome, speaking about his dream of a Creative
Research Center that—as this symposium did—crosses boundaries. Symposium
organizer Neil Baldwin, who is the director of the Creative Research
Center, professor in the
Department of Theatre and Dance, and an historian began planning the event more
than two years ago. “After a respectful pause memorializing the ten-year
anniversary of 9/11, this is a separate cultural moment to highlight where
we’ve come from and where we are going,” he said.

“It was the first time I wondered if I was safe,” recalled
Ofelia Rodriguez-Srednicki. “My idea that America was a safe place was
shattered that day.” Describing 9/11 as a “marker event”—one which causes us to
always remember where we were and who we were with—Rodriguez-Srednicki said it
was a very personal moment for her. She recounted being near the World Trade
Center in 1993 when it was bombed and knowing that if she had been in that same
spot in 2001 she would have been in grave danger. As a mother, she worried
about her son in New York City; as a professor, she taught college students
trying to make sense of what had occurred; as a clinical psychologist, she
counseled those with post-traumatic stress disorders. Now, she teaches an
interdisciplinary course on terrorism.

Norma Connolly described her experience through her lens as
an attorney. Raised in Spain,
a country that had a totalitarian regime, she experienced 9/11 with the same
type of personal reaction as most: worry for the safety of her loved ones.
Connolly drew a parallel of the nation’s reaction to that which was experienced
after Pearl Harbor: national unity, shock, and horror. But she also wondered
how this terrorism would impact our democracy. She describes the USA Patriot
Act as the realization and confirmation of her fears. “Fear makes us have to
change our reality,” she said.

Harry Haines spoke of how mediated cultural forms—films,
novels, television, etc.—are altered by war, disaster, and death, and how it
takes time for us to process such events. A scholar and veteran of the Vietnam
War, Haines said it took the establishment of the Vietnam War Memorial in 1996
to allow the nation to process the meaning of all the death in Vietnam. Likewise,
“the cultural form of the 9/11 Memorial had to fit into the ongoing story of
who we are and where we are headed. It takes time. It’s only been 10 years,” he
said, adding, “Cultural forms will continue to try to process the meaning of
our losses.”

Lori Katterhenry wondered, “can we be playful and on guard
at the same time?” She described the “indomitable imagination and cheeky,
wide-eyed optimism” as part of our American ethos and that our shared belief in
freedom personifies and unites us. When asked by a student if she had seen less
risk taking after 9/11, she commented that even in what should be the safe
space of a dance studio, she saw more guardedness in students.

Scott Kight was at work on campus when the Twin Towers were
attacked. In the days and weeks that followed, then-new Science Hall with its
microbiology lab became an area of focus. The lab was a living classroom—a
place for teaching and research by faculty and students. But after 9/11 and the
fear of bioterrorism, the laboratory—like every lab of its kind—came under
government scrutiny. The CIA wanted to know what the security features were,
how the lab was monitored, and who had access to it. The lab ultimately had to
be fitted with security and monitoring systems resulting in the faculty and
students having to change the way they worked. “Is knowledge still free and
open when you have to lock doors?” Kight mused.

Mike Peters offered his multi-media presentation, The Dream, as a representation of his
creativity in a post 9/11 world. Describing himself as “hopelessly adrift” in
the year following the attacks, he set out to look at the dreams and
possibilities of the average American. Peters photographed what he called,
“average hard-working, unpretentious people who usually go unnoticed” as his
way of acknowledging their existence. (View The Dream below.)

After a spirited question and answer session, the symposium concluded
with the BFA dance students’ presentation of “Opening Circle,” from the classic There is a Time (1956) by Jose Limon.
The somber yet uplifting dance was a fitting close to a thought-provoking and memorable
event.